William bought a new belt at the store when they were having a $55\%$ off sale. If the regular price of the belt was $$32$, how much did William pay with the discount?
First, find the amount of the discount by multiplying the original price of the of the item by the discount. $$32$ $\times$ $55\%$ $=$ Percent means "out of one hundred," so $55\%$ is equivalent to $\frac{55}{100}$ which is also equal to $55 \div 100$ $55 \div 100 = 0.55$ Multiply the discount you just converted into a decimal by the original price to find the amount of money saved. $0.55$ $\times$ $$32$ $ = $ $$17.60$ Subtract the discount you just found from the original price to get the final price William paid. $$32$ $-$ $$17.60$ $ = $ $$14.40$ William paid $$14.40$ for the belt.